What is ‘Triple S’ – key factor Prashant Kishor claims will end CM Nitish Kumar’s reign in Bihar?

Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor addresses a press conference in Patna on Sunday, September 29. (PTI Photo)

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Sunday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s government was bound to fall in the next Assembly elections slated to be held in November 2025 and listed three reasons to back his ‘prediction’.

Addressing a press conference in Patna three days ahead of the launch of his Jan Suraaj party, Kishor said failure of the liquor ban policy, the corruption-ridden and hurriedly carried out land survey in the state and the forced installation of prepaid smart electricity metres across Bihar would result in Nitish being ousted from his post as the Chief Minister.

“Triple S — sharab-bandi, (land) survey and smart meter installation across the state — will prove to be the last three nails in the coffin of the present Bihar government,” Kishor told reporters on Sunday.

After more than two-years of Padyatra through thousands of villages and small towns of Bihar, we formally started the process of party formation to give a better alternative that would end decades of misery and ensure a better future for the children of #BiharYesterday, the pic.twitter.com/UREEPLyBtH Prashant Kishor (@PrashantKishor) July 29, 2024

The statewide ban on sale and consumption of liquor in Bihar imposed by Nitish Kumar in his second term in power has come in for much criticism over the years. While the initial criticism was limited to the harsh punitive measures for offenders that the law provided for, it has lately been focussed on what Opposition parties have termed as its “selective enforcement”.

Kishor, who began his ‘Paidal Yatra’ on October 2, 2022, and claims to have covered 60 percent of the state on foot, said that he agrees with CM Nitish’s argument that liquor ban has its benefits. “But only if it is really enforced. This is why I say point-blank that we will lift the liquor ban in Bihar in 15 minutes of coming to power. Some people say if we do so, women would not vote for us. If that is the case, so be it. But I will keep telling the truth,” he said.

Kishor has promised to end the liquor ban in the state if it comes to power in the Assembly elections. Taking on the Nitish administration on the issue of land surveys, Kishor alleged large-scale corruption in the process and dared the NDA government in the state to resume the process that was recently stalled.

““Why did this government discontinue the land survey? It is because even they do not know in many cases about the real ownership of land. Land survey is not land reforms… We have learnt that huge money is being collected in the name of giving land documents to people,” he said.

The Jan Suraaj party founder further said that the installation of prepaid smart meters, already done in Patna and some other towns, will lead to utter chaos if people were forced to implement it across the state. Residents are complaining of inflated and incorrect bills after installation of prepaid smart meters, he claimed.

October 2 will see the official launch of the Jan Suraaj party along with the announcement of the party president, Kishor said, adding that his party will contest the 243 seats in the 2025 Assembly elections.

Kishor, who says he has not sought any party post for himself and will instead continue with his people-centric approach on the ground, says his party shall remain equidistant from the RJD as well as the BJP.

“We have made it clear several times that we will contest all 243 Assembly seats in Bihar. Even if we get 130 seats, I will take it as a personal defeat. Forming a government alone is not enough, we need the support of two-thirds majority to implement key policies… Ya to arsh par ya farsh par (Either we reach the top or we will fail). If we do not get people’s full support in the 2025 polls, we will work hard for another five years,” said Kishor.